Programme Director
National Chairperson of SANCA
National Executive Director, Mrs Shamim Garda
SANCA volunteers
Government officials
Ladies and gentlemen
Let me first thank you for inviting us to this important occasion in the calendar of South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SANCA). The minister would have loved to be with us this evening, but could not join us due to other official commitments.
We feel honoured that you have correctly chosen this event as a platform to interact with the Department of Social Development and other role players on issues of our common interest.
As you know, we live in a society beset by the scourge of alcohol and substance abuse, which affects all of us directly or indirectly.
This challenge is threatening the future of our children in rural and urban settlements, regardless of their family backgrounds.
Places such as schools that are supposed to nurture children and the youth to become responsible adults and citizens are now targeted by drug lords to lead our children astray.
At the same time there is anecdotal and empirical evidence about women and children who bear the brunt of domestic violence as a result of alcohol or substance abuse.
Equally, there are reports and revelations of road accidents that occur as a result of drunken driving.
For as long as these and other incidents persist, all of us gathered here government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have a mammoth task to fight this scourge and its manifestations in society.
As government, we are worried that the age of drug experimentation is steadily going down and currently standing at seven years.
We view this revelation with great concern, especially as statistics show an increase in the number of drug users in South Africa.
In 2004, at least 8.4 percent of the South African population, about 2.2 million people, used cannabis against the global norm of four percent. Four years later in 2008, about 3.2 million South Africans used the same drug, an increase of about 20 percent from 2004. Similarly, the use of cocaine also increased over this period by 20 percent, with 210 000 people using this substance in 2004 compared to 290 000 million of them in 2008.
But we must concede that the scope of our problem stretches way beyond drug abuse. We also have a problem o f alcohol abuse in the country.
Statistics show that problem drinkers constitute about 2.2 million drinkers, who make up 19.6 percent of the current drinking population in the country.
As a result, about 11.8 million people in various families are affected negatively by problem drinking be it emotionally or financially.
These problems emerge in the communities we live in, and some of us can even bear testimony because these matters affect our neighbours or relatives.
Thus it has become even more important for government and non-governmental organisations such as SANCA to heighten partnerships and co-ordination in the prevention of substance abuse.
We must urgently deal with the myth that exists among some of our people who still believe that it is the sole responsibility of government to act on many areas of our societal development. This needs to be corrected.
We all need to take charge and responsibility.
However, our efforts towards a drug free society must holistically reduce the supply and demand for drugs and the harm that this substance is causing to its victims and the society at large.
Already, we have launched the Ke Moja – I’m Fine Without Drugs Campaign, to encourage young people to resist the temptation of experimenting with drugs.
This is in line with the objectives of the National Drug Master Plan (NDMP) 2006 to 2011, which calls for youth-targeted intervention programmes such as the use of drama, music and sport to motivate young people against substance abuse.
In implementing the programmes outlined in the NDMP, we are working with different role-players including the government Departments of Arts and Culture, Education, Correctional Services, Transport, Health, the National Youth Development Agency and South African Police Service.
We are similarly working with community based organisations, faith based organisations, accredited addition counsellors and treatment centres.
We all know that the youth are targeted in schools by drug lords. To mitigate this challenge, the NDMP also aims to ensure that schools offer effective drug education programmes by giving learners facts regarding the danger of drug use, thus helping them develop an anti-drug attitude.
Programme Director
We are currently conducting another research to update the 2003/04 statistics on the impact prevalent in our society.
The developments and dynamics that took place since that time necessitated a drastic revision of the NDMP and its business plan by the Central Drug Authority (CDA).
During the course of this year, we will submit the revised version to Parliament for approval. I want to invite SANCA to come on board and help us implement this plan.
As a department, we have developed the mini drug master plan for Social Development, which seeks to combat substance abuse within the scope of our departmental line function.
In terms of our mini drug master plan, we endeavour to reduce the demand of drugs by discouraging the use of substances. It is also our plan to reduce the harm through holistic treatment of service users and their families, while mitigating the social, psychological and health impact of substance abuse.
It is for this reason that our general intervention plans will broadly focus on:
* prevention services
* early intervention services
* treatment services, as well as
* aftercare and re-integration services.
In this context, all our prevention strategies are aimed at ensuring that individuals, families and communities live a better life to reduce the likelihood of undesirable conditions that may expose them to substance abuse.
This therefore requires our partnership as government, NGOs and civil society to intensify the dissemination of information, communication and education in a bid to create awareness about the risks and dangers of substance abuse.
This must be done with speed for us to prevent people from moving into higher levels of abuse. These awareness campaigns must preach and promote healthy lifestyles and discourage people from allowing drugs or alcohol to take control of their lives.
This is necessary because we will never fully achieve the ideal of creating sustainable livelihoods if some in our communities still perish in substance addiction.
As a nation, we must be worried because the youth, who constitute the future, are the ones mostly affected by this problem.
In fact, today we reaffirm that young people are important members of our society, some of whose individual progress and potential is being constantly suppressed by substance abuse.
In response to debates on the State of the Nation Address, President
Jacob Zuma made an important observation that South Africa is a youthful country and I quote: “Half of all South Africans are under the age of 25. And nearly 70 percent of all South Africans are under the age of 35. Everything we do must answer the needs of our children and those of the youth. This has a profound bearing on what we do today and where we expect to be tomorrow.”
In line with what the President said, we reaffirm that young people remain part of us and we believe that they need assistance as well as guidance for them to regain their normal focus in life and begin to live productively and healthy.
Thus, we are grateful for the work done by our social development facilities and NGOs who provide treatment for the affected youth and other age groups.
Among other things, our efforts in this regard must be premised on the foundation that dealing in drugs on its own is an act of criminality. For this reason, we are confident that our law enforcement agencies will also continue to work hard to clamp down on such criminal activities.
With the 2010 FIFA World Cup around the corner, we know that some criminals will attempt to take advantage of this spectacular event for drug trafficking purposes. We can assure the world that South Africa will not be a playground for drug lords.
Our police department led by Minister, the Deputy Minister and the National Commissioner and all law enforcement agencies are doing an excellent job in combating this crime and many other crimes.
We need to congratulate them for the great work that they are doing.
Early this month, we were encouraged when the police arrested six people suspected to be involved in a drug syndicate in Cape Town and Johannesburg as part of the police’s “Operation Chameleon”.
We will ensure effective law enforcement against those involved in the trafficking and supply of illegal drugs.
This and other success stories bear testimony that our law enforcement agencies are hard at work, including work done by traffic officials against drunken driving.
Programme Director
We are worried about the effects of substance abuse on the health and socio-economy of our country.
This is merely because it often leads to injuries, intentional and unintentional, or death. It is also widely known that risky sexual behaviour is mostly prevalent when people are under the influence of substances, thus exposing themselves and their partners to the contraction or transmission of infectious diseases such as HIV and AIDS.
Sadly, violent crimes including murder and domestic violence occur mostly with the perpetrator being under the influence of substance.
It is estimated that up to 12 million family members of drug users face emotional and financial strain. At the same time, a conservative estimate of the economic costs to South Africa of alcohol abuse, based on research studies conducted in other countries, is between R8,7 billion and R17,4 billion per year. It is therefore incumbent upon us to help rescue our people both the perpetrators and the victims from this situation.
More importantly, we must empower all vulnerable people to know their rights and the places where they can get support or help.
As the department, we will continue to provide appropriate rehabilitation services to people dependent on drugs and maintain high standards of care towards such people.
We acknowledge that we can only succeed in this task with the help of other organisations outside government.
It is for this reason that we have always viewed SANCA as an important partner in the fight against drug and substance abuse in society.
We need to do more in ensuring that both government and organisations such as SANCA contribute further to establish many other rehabilitation and treatment centres throughout the country in order to deal with a shortage or non-existence of such services.
I stand here before you tonight, to indeed commend the good work we do with SANCA and other organisations in this field. Our work is a fundamental necessity of our nation.
Let us nurture this partnership, conscious that our efforts will yield a better life and future for the people of South Africa.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Social Development
24 February 2010
